Missing Nin: Conspiracy
by limadude120
Summary: Upon returning home after his three-year training trip with Jiraiya, Naruto is framed for the attempted assassination of the Fifth Hokage. Naruto finds himself on the run and hunted by both his village and Akatsuki. But who is the real enemy? Konoha, Akatsuki, or neither? Revamp of an old story of mine. Logically strong Naruto.
1. Chapter 1: A Trial

**A/N:** Timeline takes place right after Naruto returns from his training trip with Jiraiya. Also take note of the time of each scene.

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Chapter 1: A Trial

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**Yesterday:**

The shackles were heavy on his wrists and ankles, dragging noisily on the stone pavement as he was roughly hauled through the streets. The prisoner gave a pained grunt as his knees jolted against a crack in the road.

All around him, he could hear the yells, the jeers, the taunts: Demon! Scum! Traitor! Trash! He could feel some of the bolder people in the crowd spit on his head.

But still, the prisoner kept his head down, eyes hidden by his disheveled hair. His clothes were torn, revealing the burns and bruises on his body, the results of an overzealous interrogator.

"You deserve to die for everything you did, demon!" The prisoner nearly flinched as the voice cut through the roar of the crowd. That sounded like–

Pain suddenly spiked through his entire body as he was dumped onto a raised platform by his guards. Grunting with the exertion, the prisoner craned his neck slightly, trying to lift his head off of the ground. Opening his bleary eyes, the prisoner blinked, trying to block the noise of the crowd out. This was it. The execution block.

The two ANBU stood on either side, tall and imposing, silent and lethal. Then, one suddenly lashed out with his foot. The prisoner gave a cry of pain, much to the delight of the crowd. When he didn't budge, the ANBU kicked again, this time harder, shoving the body toward a pole erected in the center of the platform.

The prisoner cried out as his back slammed painfully against the post. He could vaguely feel his hands and ankles being bound to the post, forcing him into a kneeling position. From this position, the crowd sounded louder, seemed larger, more oppressive.

Some in the crowd were hurling garbage at the prisoner, piling their anger and hatred onto this one man. Their anger was like a wildfire loose in the grasslands, unquenchable, destructive, unstoppable.

Then suddenly, one by one, the crowd fell silent, an expectant hush gripping the frenzied mob. The prisoner felt the change and painfully raised his head to see what had happened. It was an old man. A flare of hope flickered within him. Perhaps he would believe.

"Please! You have to believe me! I was set up! I'm inno–" He yelled out, before being struck suddenly across the face.

The prisoner fell silent, but held his gaze up for a second longer. What he saw chilled him to the core. The old man was a cripple, his entire right side hidden in the folds of his robe. Half the old man's face was bandaged, and the one eye that was visible was utterly dead. It was the stare of someone who would do anything to accomplish his goals. A shudder seized the bound prisoner, who had never seen eyes like that. No help would be received now. Letting his head slump onto his chest, the prisoner's hope withered with equal desolation.

"People of Konoha!" His voice was loud and clear, surprising for one so old. "We are here today to witness the trial of this man," He shouted, pointing to the beaten prisoner with a crooked finger, "For the attempted murder of the Fifth Hokage!"

The crowd gave a savage cheer. "Let's kill him now!" Some were saying. "He deserves something long and slow!" Others were calling out.

The prisoner felt despair as he heard not a single voice from his so-called friends.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

The defendant blinked, before he realized that he was the one being addressed.

"I have nothing to say except that I am innocent!" He spat out, his voice filled with impassioned bitterness.

"So you have said, but you cannot deny the evidence brought against you!" The old man proclaimed.

"There was a Yamanaka there! He controlled me! I didn't do it!" The prisoner cried out, trying to make the people see sense. A roar of outrage drowned out the plea of innocence.

"Now he dares to slander the honorable Yamanaka clan! From pond scum like him, no less!" The old man cried out, turning to the crowd, left arm outstretched as if trying to capture the incredulity of the statement. "How **dare** he?!"

The crowd surged up in response. "Kill him! Liar! Execution! Death! Traitor!"

"NO! I'm innocent!" The condemned pleaded desperately.

"So you say, but what do you say, friends?"

The crowd gave a mighty roar, hundreds of voices all condemning the man before them. After a short while, the old man raised his hands again. "So is he guilty or not?"

"**GUILTY!**" The crowd roared in return. The defendant felt his heart sink at the words, wondering why nobody wanted to believe him. He was innocent! This wasn't even a real trial! Just a farce of one! While the man raged silently in his head, the crowd fell silent as they waited expectantly for the old man's fated words.

"Therefore," He began ominously. The prisoner gave one last pleading look at the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face. There were none.

"I pronounce you guilty of the attempted assassination of the Fifth Hokage. I hereby sentence you, Naruto Uzumaki, to death!"

IIIIIIIIII

"NO! Please!" Naruto yelled in desperation. "I was set up! I demand a real trial!" Naruto struggled against his bonds, his limbs flaring in pain, desperately trying to plead his case. "Please! I'm innocent," He croaked out at last, but his voice was drowned in the malicious cheering of the crowd.

Naruto looked on helplessly, as the old man turned to an ANBU and gave a nod.

Finally realizing that it had truly come down to this, the pleas and hopes drained away. Only anger and rage remained. Naruto bared his teeth and growled at his prosecutor. "You call this justice?!"

There was only a pause before the old man commented quietly, "And us releasing the only suspect in the Hokage's attempted assassination _is_ true justice? I think not. The evidence does not lie." Then he coldly turned towards the crowd. "My friends!" He gestured dramatically with his left hand. "For justice!"

"**JUSTICE!**" The crowd roared back at him.

The old man could practically feel Naruto's baleful stare drilling into the back of his head. A solemn nod to the ANBU. Everybody made their way off the platform save for the executioner, whom the crowd cheered on more enthusiastically as they sensed the nearing end.

Forming several quick hand seals, the ANBU took a deep breath and gathered his chakra. "**Fire style: Fireball jutsu!**" A huge fireball raced toward the prone form of Naruto Uzumaki, bringing with it his death. Naruto squinted as he felt the searing heat on his face, scrabbling with his hands to touch the chakra suppression seal on his restraints.

_I WILL NOT DIE HERE!_ For a brief second, Naruto closed his eyes, remaining absolutely still, harmonizing himself with nature.

**BOOM**! The fireball exploded spectacularly, the heat making the front rows flinch backwards, the force of the jutsu blowing a hole through the platform itself. Realizing that Naruto was dead, the crowd gave a rousing cheer before a blur shot upwards out of the smoke. Confusion crashed over the crowd like a wave.

"There!" Some shouted. "No!" Others shouted desperately. As people began to look up, they saw the singed and smoking form of a very much alive Naruto Uzumaki. "Run!" Some shrieked in terror. "Kill him! Kill him!" Others screamed. Abject terror suddenly seized the once-sneering, arrogant crowd as the multitude turned on one another, each fearing for his or her own safety.

"How did he escape?" The old man barked furiously at the ANBU beside him, his voice cutting through the screams of the crowd.

"I don't know, sir." The ANBU turned briefly toward his commander. "Perhaps it wa–" Suddenly, he fell over dead as two chunks of wood lodged themselves in the back of his head, killing him instantly. The old cripple blanched as he realized that they had been meant for him.

"Call for reinforcements!" He ordered his troops. "You know what to do!" The old man then beat a surprisingly hasty retreat, using the crowd around him for cover. Uzumaki on the loose was not good.

Naruto landed on a rooftop, the rage burning within him, the injuries on his body faded. "**YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME?!**" He savagely challenged, rage overriding all else. "**BRING IT!**" Suddenly, he was beset by three ANBU. Cursing, Naruto tore his gaze away from the crowd and defended himself. Finding a gap in the attacks, Naruto jumped up to a higher rooftop, hoping to gain a better position. Suddenly, an ANBU either braver or stupider than the rest, gave a battle cry and rushed forward, hoping to distinguish himself by striking the killing blow.

Naruto scoffed and raised his arm, almost casually deflecting the blow aimed for his head. Like lightning, his fist shot out and shattered the ANBU's throat. Naruto stepped back from the gagging, choking, and dying body. Naruto took a defensive position, noting the jonin that had joined the battle as well.

Seeing their comrade taken out so easily, the Konoha nin all formed a wary circle around their quarry. "Who's next?" Naruto gestured with his palm, taunting the ANBU.

"Stay back!" One ANBU yelled out. "Look at his eyes! He's in sage mode! That's how he escaped so easily!" The others all tensed up. They had heard about Naruto and Jiraiya-sama's special Sage Mode. It was indeed formidable, especially since they couldn't use ninjutsu for risk of injuring the mob running about in the streets below.

The ANBU gave a quick glance at each other before nodding subtly. The orders were vague enough that striking to kill could be excused. The ANBU present recognized that this was a battle for survival. Trying to mask his movements, one behind Naruto began forming seals. "Are you crazy?!" the jonin next to him yelled. "There's people down there!"

Naruto's eyes became slits as he turned his head, realizing what the ANBU were going to do.

The ANBU cursed. "You fool!" Like greased lightning, Naruto feinted to his left, causing all the ninja to jump into action anticipating his move.

Naruto suddenly turned on a dime, launching himself at the other side of the circle. Grabbing the ANBU who was halfway through his jutsu, Naruto spun the body around in a circle above his head like a human shield before throwing the ANBU up and savagely kicking the man away from the group, sending him flying across the rooftops before smashing into a wall.

Giving a growl of anger, Naruto engaged the rest of the ninja, blocking, countering, trying to land successful blows, but they all worked too well as a team. Growling in frustration, Naruto then made a hand seal, quickly drawing upon his chakra, before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

"Where'd he go?!" A jonin cried out in alarm.

"That's the Yondaime's Hiraishin jutsu!" Another older jonin exclaimed.

"How did that monster steal the Yondaime's jutsu?!" A younger, more bigoted jonin angrily shouted out.

"What matters is where Uzamaki is now!" Another interrupted angrily.

"The one he kicked away!" An ANBU suddenly grunted in realization. "He planted a seal!" Glancing at each other, they all leapt away in that direction, hoping to find the fugitive known as Naruto Uzumaki and bring him to justice.

IIIIIII

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he found himself being pulled back into real time next to the body of the ANBU he had kicked away. The one who was willing to sacrifice innocents in the crowd to kill him. "Sorry, but I'm not sorry." He mumbled under his breath, before turning the corpse over and removing his seal.

Shrugging off the disorientation he felt whenever he used the Hiraishin, Naruto thought of the creator of the jutsu. "To use the Hiraishin so quickly, Dad must've been a real master with it," Naruto mumbled quietly, more to numb his thoughts than anything else. Then, sensing the approaching ninja with the last of his nature chakra, Naruto cursed and dashed away, doing his best to remain hidden in the shadows of the buildings cast by the afternoon sun. All around him, he could hear the alarms of the village going off, ninja scrambling to find the missing fugitive.

It would only be a matter of time till the sensors and the more skilled jonin caught up with him. _I have to get out of the village_, Naruto thought grimly. _I can only stay hidden for so long. I need a diversion…_

Scratching his chin, Naruto realized that he could make a good distraction. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto whispered quietly as a doppelgänger poofed into existence. "You know what to do." It nodded before it whizzed off.

"Ok. There'll definitely be guards at the gate. These guys aren't idiots. But hopefully, my diversion will distract some of them at least." After several close calls, Naruto secreted himself inside one of the shops adjacent to the main road leading into Konoha. The main gate was only fifty feet away. It was being guarded by at least forty ninja.

Naruto knew it was risky, but he dispersed the vestiges of nature chakra in his body before creating a chakra suppression seal on himself. He didn't want to risk any sensors getting a hint of his real location. Now it was a gamble as to whether his distraction would clear the gate or not.

One minute. Two minutes. A bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's forehead as the anxiety began to set in. Three minutes. Then suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the village.

"The Hoakge's Tower is under attack. It must be Uzumaki! Let's go!" One of the brasher ninja yelled out before sprinting in the direction of the smoke. His action spurred the other ninja into action. The captain yelled in frustration as two thirds of the ninja leapt away.

"No! Stay here! It could just be a distraction, you fools!" The captain's shouts went unheeded as the sounds of battle near the Hokage Tower increased.

"Dammit!" Naruto whispered in his hiding spot. He had just received the memories from his clone, meaning that it had been destroyed. He had to act fast. Tearing off the chakra suppressors, Naruto calmed himself and stood absolutely still, drawing in the nature chakra to him.

It had been incredibly risky drawing upon natural chakra while he was on the execution block, as his chakra had been sealed. Without access to his own chakra, the nature chakra had threatened to overwhelm him, but thankfully, his chakra had rushed back at just the right time, balancing out even the small dosage he had drawn in.

Now, though, there was no such danger as Naruto's own chakra ran wild, flowing like liquid fire through his veins. This time, Naruto drew in more than just a small burst, drawing in as much nature chakra as his body could balance with his normal stores. It was more than most jonin would ever be able to balance.

Naruto opened his eyes, which were rimmed with orange and had rectangular pupils. None too soon, too, as one of the kunoichi cried out urgently to the remaining fifteen or so ninja, "He's here! He's in that building. Get ready!"

"Call for reinforcements, quick!" The captain ordered.

Naruto cursed. Of course someone in the group would be a sensor. Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto punched his way through the wall and burst through the dust in a terrifying rush toward the small group of shinobi. He had maybe seconds before reinforcements showed up.

Forming the tiger seal, Naruto took a deep breath. "**Grand Fireball Jutsu!**"

Unleashing a massive missile straight at the gates, he was glad to see a few of the skittish ones jump away early. Naruto had wanted to sneak past the group quietly, but he had gotten unlucky. _That's okay. I love big explosions,_ Naruto thought grimly.

Drawing chakra into his palm, Naruto let the natural energy fuel his jutsu, empowering it beyond imagination. He cried out, "**Giant Rasengan!**" Speeding up even more, Naruto thrust the massive, swirling ball of death toward the opposing ninja, and incidentally, the gate behind them.

"Get out of the way!" The captain ordered, trying to form a makeshift earth barrier to stop Naruto's jutsu.

None of the other ninja needed to be told twice. Naruto smirked as he felt the chakra signatures between him and the gate disperse. Then speeding up even more, Naruto tore through the captain's Earth Jutsu and right into the massive Gates of Konoha.

For a split second, the gates shuddered and remained in place, before blasting open, giving Naruto an escape route.

"So long, suckers!" Naruto yelled out before leaping through the gates. In midair, Naruto turned, forming a seal even as his momentum sent him skidding backwards. "**Earth Style: Stone Barrier!"** Naruto cried as he slammed his hands into the ground. As before, fueled by the natural energy, Naruto's jutsu burst forth spectacularly, a huge stone barrier shooting from the ground and blocking the huge gateway of Konoha.

Naruto grunted cheerlessly, knowing that his jutsu would hold his pursuers at bay only for a short while. Turning away, Naruto leapt into the woods bordering the main path to Konoha. When Naruto felt that he was a good distance away, the blonde ninja made hand seal, seeking for a familiar chakra. When he couldn't find it, he gave a silent curse.

_Konoha has some sort of barrier seal around it._ Naruto's eyebrows curled together. This was bad. _And it's blocking my connection to my Hiraishin seal._ Naruto cursed again as he thought about how his predicament. _Look's like it's the old fashioned way. I've got to make it past the barrier by foot._

Suddenly, Naruto heard faint rumblings in the distance. For the umpteenth time that day, Naruto found reason to curse. "They've gotten past my jutsu. That was fast. Only 40 seconds."

Sighing, Naruto channeled more chakra to his feet as he shot forward like a bullet, hoping to pass the barrier before the ANBU caught up with him. He didn't want to get in a fight just yet.

Meanwhile, back at Konoha, several teams of chunin and jonin had already been established, each ready for their mission. Naruto Uzumaki was a dangerous missing nin. Strength Unknown. Last assessed as a genin. They had orders to bring him back dead or alive, preferably alive. He was still the Jinchuuriki.

As the jonin captains briefed their individual teams, other special ANBU teams had formed. Each team wore special masks different than the regular ANBU. Nobody outside of ANBU would have been able to tell the difference, because the main difference was a very subtle but dangerous one. Each of these special ANBU was incredibly loyal to their leader – not the Hokage, but Danzo Shimura. They glanced at each other, ignoring the other shinobi around them. No words were needed. They had their orders. Naruto Uzumaki had become too much trouble.

As one, the entity known as Root dispersed, chasing after the missing nin as Naruto Uzumaki. They had a rogue asset to put down.

IIIIIIIIII

Naruto was in a bad situation. He had passed the barrier before any of the ANBU squads had caught up with him, and as soon as he was able, he flashed to his nearest safehouse. It was in fact the first and only still-functioning safehouse he had set up in the Land of Fire when he first went out training with Jiraiya.

Naruto cursed his stupidity. He hadn't activated the chakra disruption seals to guard against sensors, and those ANBU had found him like vultures looking for a corpse. Naruto had let himself become careless, as he hadn't bothered maintaining his sage chakra. His attackers had appeared out of nowhere, assaulting his hideout with several high-powered jutsus.

If Naruto hadn't reinforced the place with his seals, he was sure that he would've been squashed like a bug. It was only by pure luck that he had been able to catch the group off guard and escape in a plethora of shadow clones. Each ANBU had been forced to follow a different clone since they didn't know which was the original, but although Naruto had escaped for the moment, his chakra stores were ridiculously low.

Naruto drew in as much natural chakra as he could, but with his chakra stores so low as a result of his mass of shadow clones, Naruto could only balance out so much. Naruto cursed as he felt more and more jonin and chunin catching up. He didn't want to kill any Konoha nin. They were once his comrades. He couldn't kill them. No. If it came down to it. He would. He would survive. Naruto growled before turning toward Wave Country and the direction of his next nearest safehouse.

Then, Naruto cursed again. Most of his clones had run off in that direction. That meant that if he traveled to Wave Country, he could easily be caught in a pincer movement. _I have to go to either Waterfall, Wind, or Lightning Country_, Naruto thought with a sense of despair. That meant that he would have to turn around in a wide circle and spend even more time in Fire Country – time that would be very dangerous.

_I have to get in range of my Hiraishin seals, or I'm dead_, Naruto thought as he sped off through the trees, not caring who saw or heard him. Speed was of the utmost importance. Naruto kept traveling well into the night, well after he had come out of several battles, well after hunger and cold had begun to gnaw into his bones.

Over time, Naruto sensed the ANBU blocking off his path to Lightning Country, and the Konoha nin blocking his path to Wind Country. It looked like that it would be Waterfall Country after all. Naruto changed his angle of direction so he would run into the jonin before the ANBU. If it came down to it, Naruto preferred to deal with opponents with skills specialized in areas outside of killing.

Naruto could only thank the fact that he hadn't seen or had to seriously harm anybody he knew yet. Somehow, they were all outside of the village on missions.

Naruto cursed that old man. The cripple knew more than he let on. It had been quick, but Naruto had seen him give an order to an ANBU. An ANBU! There was something foreboding about him.

Then, Naruto thought about that fateful meeting with Tsunade. The Yamanaka had been in the room with them, and he had let down his guard! The bastard had somehow briefly disabled both him and Tsunade. Next thing Naruto knew, he was waking up from a blackout, standing over a severely injured Tsunade, a kunai against her neck. Naruto had tried to find the killer, but it was too late. He was alone in the room. In seconds, the ANBU were there, and the real assassin was nowhere to be found.

And Tsunade-baa-chan. Naruto remembered his clone sensing her chakra signature in the hospital as he snuck past. She felt so weak and fragile lying in that bed, not at all like her normal self.

_I'm going to clear my name! I have to!_ Naruto thought angrily. Suddenly, he was broken out of his thoughts as a group of chunin came barreling down on him. It was a flurry of blows and blocks before Naruto emerged victorious yet again, but this time with even more scrapes and cuts on his body. Fighting to disable was much harder than fighting to kill.

Naruto could feel his nature chakra running extremely low. He hadn't stopped to refill his stores and Naruto was wishing that he had stopped at least to draw in a little more. But through his ragged breaths, Naruto looked up at the stars in the night sky and realized that he was almost at the border. Putting on another burst of speed, Naruto was alarmed to sense a group approaching him at a very rapid speed. Dashing toward the tree line, Naruto could sense Waterfall Country in the distance. He would be able to make it!

With a final burst of speed, Naruto leapt away from the tree line, almost collapsing as his knees buckled under him. As the exhausted blonde pushed himself up, Naruto saw the jonin preparing jutsu and hurling weapons. Damn. Even across the border he wasn't safe. Hoisting himself up painfully he weaved and dodged, the main amount of projectiles missing him. A few nicked him, drawing blood, but soon he was out of range.

The jutsus suddenly began pouring down: scorching fireballs, crumbling earth, crackling lightning. Naruto clenched his teeth and drew a kunai he had scavenged earlier in his left hand. Drawing blood on his right index finger, he rapidly drew a Hiraishin seal on the kunai and then hurled it as far as he could. Just before he was disintegrated into a paste, Naruto drew on his chakra and disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Appearing 10 feet in midair, Naruto was too tired to bother cushioning his fall. He descended fast and hard, his body skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust. Glancing back, he could make out the glow of the jutsus lighting up the night sky.

Grunting, Naruto picked himself up and trudged deeper into Waterfall Country, still wary for any ANBU foolish enough to try to spark an international incident. He wasn't going to die tonight.

IIIIIIIII

It was nearly sunrise when Naruto came into range of his seal. Grimacing, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated, flashing away a second later to small shelter hidden away in a cliffside. Using his chakra, Naruto activated the locking mechanism on the camouflaged door, revealing a pass just thin enough for a person to enter through. Squeezing tiredly through with a painful wheeze, Naruto collapsed onto the cool floor as he relocked the door.

Sunlight filtered through a crack in the ceiling, affording Naruto a small light. Spying the bed, Naruto made his way over and crumpled gratefully onto the mattress. Sleep.

When Naruto woke, the sun was beginning to set. Naruto groaned before getting off of the mattress. Every bone in his body seemed to be bruised, as every single nerve in his body seemed to scream in painful protest. Moving over to the wash basin that was stocked with clean water, Naruto stripped himself and washed his body from the grime of the night.

He grimaced when he thought of everything that had happened. He had been framed for attempted murder. He was unfairly tried, and he was almost executed. He had killed Konoha ANBU. He had been hunted and on the run for an entire night. But now, he was free…

As Naruto washed the dirt off of his body, he realized that he was indeed a different person. He was no longer Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha. Now, he was a nobody. A rogue ninja.

Naruto looked at his black forehead protector. He grimaced, before picking up a kunai and forcing his body to commit to the action. In a second, Naruto let a single scratch run through the Leaf symbol on his hitai-ite.

_My name is Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin._

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**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed. Oh, and before I forget, I own nothing but my ideas. Secondly, this is a revamp of one of my first stories, Missing Nin. It starts off the same, but really takes off in another direction later on. Some of you may spot the main differences quite early on, and yes, the old man is Danzo, as everybody knows. So again, this is right at the start of shippuden, when Naruto returns to Konoha. I'll make that abundantly clear later on as well. Review, please.


	2. Chapter 2: Memories

**A/N:** Yeah. Wow. This one got away from me. Fast. Too much?

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Chapter 2: Memory Lane

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**2 Years, 10 months and 2 weeks ago:**

"Hey, ero-sennin!" Naruto whined out. "When are you going to teach me more super-powerful jutsu like the Rasengan?"

Jiraiya sighed in frustration. They had had this discussion way too many times. "Brat, I've told you. Don't call me ero-sennin. It's not appropriate for someone of my stature. Secondly, I've told you this before, the power of your techniques doesn't determine a ninja's strength. It's how you use what techniques you have that determine your strength."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said flippantly, "But I still want to learn some of your super-powerful jutsus!"

Jiraiya growled. "Brat! You know the Rasengan, and I'm teaching you fuinjutsu. You're not ready for anything more powerful."

Naruto narrowed his eyes defiantly. "I want to learn my dad's jutsu! The one you keep talking about. The one that made him the Yellow Flash."

Jiraiya gave Naruto a hard look. "You're not entitled to anything," Jiraiya said bluntly, but not unkindly. "You're still a kid. Show me that you're ready, then I'll teach you what I know."

Jiraiya saw the fount of Naruto's endless questions about to burst forth. "Not until then," He began quickly, "And not if you keep bugging me about it."

Naruto made a harsh sound in the back of his throat as he physically restrained his questions. That was about as good as he going to get from Jiraiya, he knew. "Fine," naruto relented, slightly sulky. "Just one quick question, though, ero-sennin. If tou-san showed you how his jutsu worked, how come you don't use it?" Naruto asked curiously.

It took a while for the sage to gather his thoughts and form a response. "So much for not bugging me," He muttered, following up with a chuckle to show Naruto that he would answer the questions. "First off brat, it's not my style. Your dad favored speed over strength, not that he lacked it. Precision was the name of his game. He liked to keep things… clean. Ironically, his jutsu only served to multiply tenfold the destruction he wrought in the war." Jiraiya seemed to lose himself in his thoughts. Naruto remained silent, impatiently waiting for Jiraiya to continue.

"On the other hand," Jiraiya finally said, "I am what you could call a heavy hitter, a 'power fighter.' Like you actually. A byproduct of wartime, you could say. By the time I was actually able to make your dad's jutsu work, I was too old to integrate something new into my combat style."

Naruto made a face. "That's not such a great excuse. If somebody put their mind to something, they could probably do anything they wanted."

Jiraiya scoffed. "Yeah. I don't think so, brat. Besides, when your father showed me the inner workings of his jutsu, At the time, I was one of two people in the world who were privy to that information. The other was your mother."

"Tou-san showed kaa-san?! That's so cool! Did she learn how to use it too? You said the Uzumaki were seal masters, right?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Jiraiya gave another thoughtful pause. "The Uzumaki gained that reputation through the sheer strength and ingenuity of their more destructive seals. Sure, in general, the the Uzumaki had an affinity for seals, but they were specialists in using seals for combat, so they wouldn't have studied every single intricate detail of sealing. Your father did. Even in battle, he had an elegant and flowing style to his seals that nobody could match."

Naruto gazed at his sensei with rapt attention, waiting for the white-haired man to continue.

"Even the best of their seal 'masters,' couldn't really compare to your father. Your mother herself was only mediocre with utilizing seals herself. She preferred using more conventional jutsus with seals thrown in the mix as a supplement to her fighting style. Kushina was quick with those seals, though, and was able to grasp the basics of Minato's jutsu rather quickly. Quicker than me, in fact."

Naruto's chest puffed with pride. His parents really were something else.

"Anyways, back to your original question, I didn't use his jutsu simply because it was beyond me at the time. On top of that, he didn't show me everything either. Out of respect, I never tried to completely understand it. This was your dad's original and perhaps most dangerous jutsu. Anybody who uses it needs to exercise the utmost caution and respect." Jiraiya gave Naruto a hard look to make sure the teen understood just how powerful the Hiraishin could be. Jiraiya was pleased to see that Naruto, despite his slight confusion at Jiraiya's wording, only nodded, a hopeful sign of the boy's growing maturity.

"When I pass on the notes he entrusted to me, then you will be the last person with the full knowledge of the Hiraishin, the jutsu that made your dad famous. Only your dad's personal guards at the time knew how to activate the jutsu, but they don't know nearly enough to use it in battle. Neither do I, for that matter. You will." Jiraiya didn't know whether he should be relieved, or scared at that prospect.

Naruto beamed at his mentor when he heard that. "That's so cool, ero-sennin! I'm going to be so awesome!"

Jiraiya only rolled his eyes. "He gave me his encrypted notes on the condition that I would be able to teach his kids should he and your mother ever fall in battle." Jiraiya paused to let what he had said sink in for Naruto.

"So… He knew that he was going to die?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Actually, no." Jiraiya said. "Nobody really knows when they're going to die. But Minato wanted to cover every single loose end. And that meant, even for a guy like him, there was a possibility that somebody could beat him."

"And that was the fox, huh?" Naruto asked sadly, looking down at his stomach where the Kyuubi was housed. He never felt lower than at that very moment.

"Yeah, but remember one thing, Naruto."

Naruto looked up suddenly at the sound of his name.

"It wasn't your fault. If anything, you're the reason the whole village isn't dead, because I know your father would've never sealed the thing into somebody unable to handle such a burden."

Naruto smiled a smile full of happiness, sadness, and hope all mixed together. This was one of the most serious discussions he had ever had with Jiraiya. With anybody, really. "So…"

"He loved you, Naruto. Both of your parents did. Always will. Don't ever doubt it."

Jiraiya saw Naruto's head bent down, still looking at the ground. He reached out a hand toward Naruto's shoulder, slightly concerned. But suddenly, Naruto jumped up, eyes tearing over, and he was bawling like the young kid he still was.

"I love them too! Even if I've never met them, they're in here," Naruto said, pointing to his heart. "And I'm gonna make 'em proud, believe it!"

Naruto whipped out a fuinjutsu teaching scroll Jiraiya had made for him and immediately set down the path, his head buried in his scroll.

Pleasantly surprised, Jiraiya smiled as he thought about how similar Naruto was to Minato. He had hoped that he had made the right choice in telling Naruto about his father. If not, he'd deal with the consequences when they got back to Konoha, consequences be damned. Naruto may not have looked like it, but he was more mature than he let on sometimes. He deserved to know.

"Ow!" Naruto suddenly cried out, as he tripped over a rock and fell flat on his nose.

Jiraiya palmed his face and shook his head. More mature in some things than others, that was for sure. "Watch where you're going, brat!" He admonished as he sauntered past his student.

Naruto just clutched his nose as he lay groaning on the ground. "And keep moving! We're burning daylight!" Jiraiya called from further up the road. Naruto groaned again, trying to pull himself up.

"Come on, ero-sennin! Wait up!" Naruto called, rubbing his nose, racing to catch up.

Jiraiya sighed. These three years were going to be longer than he had predicted.

**2 years and 8 months ago:**

"Come on, kid!" Jiraiya taunted. "You can do better than that! Think before you act!"

Naruto wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. Sparring with ero-sennin was less like training and more like a full-on battle.

"Don't just mob me with shadow clones! Use them smartly to save your chakra. Just because you have a lot doesn't mean it's limitless!"

Naruto grunted in frustration, half regretting, half angry at his wish that ero-sennin move beyond using scrolls for training. Naruto yelled out his frustrations again before charging in, leaving Jiraiya both grinning and shaking his head.

When the fight – more like a one sided beatdown – was over, Naruto was covered in bruises while Jiraiya still looked relatively fresh. It had only been an hour.

"Alright, brat. What you just did out there today…" Naruto looked up expectantly, expecting praise or something. "Was a complete waste of my time."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"If you keep attacking blindly like that, expecting your clones to overpower your opponent, then I've taught you nothing. I'm trying to get it through your head that it's the way you use your jutsus that win the battle, not your jutsus themselves." Jiraiya stared hard at Naruto until his pupil was forced to turn away in shame, realizing that the entire time, he had been blindly rushing in.

Jiraiya nodded, satisfied that his message had gotten through. "Until you refine your battle strategies, I won't bother sparring with you again. If you waste my time like you did today, I'll leave you stranded in the next town we stay at, got it?"

Naruto nodded diminutively, vowing to get not only stronger, but smarter.

"Read a lot," Jiraiya said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Read a lot," Jiraiya repeated. "Reading stretches your imagination in countless ways. It'll help your strategy."

Naruto nodded. He made a mental note to buy some scrolls at the next town they stopped at. Then something landed at his feet. He reached down to pick it up. It was a copy of _Icha Icha_. "The heck?! You want me to read your smut?!" Naruto cried out. He noticed that Jiraiya was no longer quite as serious.

"Well," the old pervert began with a lecherous grin, "It'll certainly help your imagination!"

"Ero-sennin! You perverted bastard!" Naruto yelled, before hurling the book at his teacher.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Your loss. I'm headed into town to do more research." Naruto face palmed, knowing just what kind of research that would be. "I want you to stay here and practice those elemental jutsus I showed you."

Naruto nodded, watching the back of his teacher as it strode away, down the hill into town. "I won't let you down, ero-sennin," Naruto whispered into the darkening sky.

**2 Years Ago:**

Jiraiya was pleased. Things were going very well. Naruto had been improving by leaps and bounds. He had certainly come a long way from the whiny brat begging for a cool jutsu. Naruto wasn't rushing in anymore, and he was actually using his head. His control over his chakra had improved as well, evident in his skill in wind and fire manipulation. Up next was earth and water, then finally lightning.

Jiraiya was also surprised at Naruto's progress in fuinjutsu. The brat soaked up the knowledge like a sponge, and was an extremely fast study… _But only when I'm using food-related analogies,_ Jiraiya thought wryly. Food and training were probably the only consistent things on Naruto's mind. _The kid needs to find a girl,_ Jiraiya thought with a lecherous grin.

"Oy! Ero-sennin! Are you being perverted again?! You have that grin on your face!" Naruto called from across the field, walking up to his mentor.

Jiraiya glanced up to see his student carrying a bag of supplies bought from the nearby town. He chuckled.

"Brat! Actually, I was just thinking that it might be time."

"Time for what?" Naruto asked as he shouldered the bag onto the ground.

"Well, I think your sealing skills are finally where they need to be, and that you're finally ready to learn–"

"The Hiraishin?! You're kidding right?! This is so awesome! Yes!" Naruto shouted out excitedly, prancing around. "Actually, on second thought, you better not be kidding ero-sennin!" Naruto said pointedly, waving his arms excitedly. "Yes! Finally!"

Jiraiya just scoffed. "If only you showed this kind of dedication for chakra control exercises."

"But those are so boring!" Naruto retorted. "This is going to be so cool, though, teleporting all over the place!"

Jiraiya just raised his eyebrow. Naruto would find out soon enough, but Minato had spent months mastering, perfecting, and speeding up his jutsu. During that time, Minato's training had been so repetitive that Minato himself had nearly given up the jutsu in frustration. Luckily for him, though, Kushina had always been there to… ease tensions. Jiraiya knew for a fact that Kushina had never been more satisfied then during those months.

He giggled perversely thinking of the all-too-obvious grin pasted on Kushina's face during those four months. Then he thought of Naruto. Too bad for the brat. Alone. Like me–

Jiraiya suddenly shook himself out of his stupor. Naruto was so busy being excited that he had failed to notice Jiraiya's spaciness.

"Alright, brat. If you want to get started, get over here."

In the blink of an eye, Naruto was standing in front of Jiraiya, causing the sage to raise an eyebrow. "You keep moving like that, you won't even need to learn the Hiraishin."

"Ha ha," Naruto sarcastically responded. "Come on, ero-sennin! Let's start already!"

Jiraiya just chuckled as he hoisted himself up. "Ok kid, before I explain anything to you, I'm just going to demonstrate to you how to jutsu feels. While you were gone, I set up a seal on the far side of the field. I'm going to teleport the both of us to that location. Hold on to me and don't let go until I say so, or you might not make it." Jiraiya paused to make sure Naruto understood.

The blonde eagerly bobbed his head and grabbed onto Jiraiya's arm. "I'm ready, believe it!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes before drawing on his chakra, attempting to make a bridge with the seal. It took about seven seconds. _There we go,_ Jiraiya thought, making the connection. In a bright yellow flash, Jiraiya and Naruto were gone. A full second later, they appeared on the other end of the field, right near Jiraiya's seal.

"Alright, safe," Jiraiya informed Naruto, who promptly let go of his mentor and fell to the ground, a wave of nausea passing through him.

"Whoa… That was intense, ero-sennin. I don't feel so well," Naruto groaned out, his head spinning wildly.

Jiraiya knelt down worriedly. The reaction shouldn't have been this bad. "Hey, Naruto, you alright?" Jiraiya reached to touch Naruto's shoulder before yanking it back, hissing in pain. Naruto was burning, literally!

"What's happening, kid?!" Jiraiya asked, standing up, already reaching into his ninja pouch.

"I think it's the fox!" Naruto grunted out. "My body's burning up real bad!" Naruto suddenly curled up, his insides feeling like they were boiling over.

"Hang on, Naruto!" Jiraiya hastily rummaged through his pouch before he found it. Slapping the piece of paper on Naruto's head, a seal activated and actively began suppressing the Kyuubi's chakra, which had already begun to bubble around Naruto.

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief as the chakra dissipated. "Brat, you okay?"

"Yeah…" Naruto groaned out. "What happened?"

"To be honest, I really don't know." Jiraiya thought about what could have happened. It had happened when they had slipped back into this dimension from the other one, but how could that have affected Naruto's seal? This was getting complicated.

IIIIIII

After teleporting two more times, Jiraiya was finally convinced that the teleporting was somehow causing the Kyuubi to seep through. The third time they had used the Hiraishin, Jiraiya had placed extra seals on Naruto's seal, designed to prevent any sort of chakra seepage into Naruto's system. That time, Naruto had suffered only a minute amount of Kyuubi's chakra seeping through. Even that, though, required a suppressive seal.

It was strange, Jiraiya mused to himself. He really didn't know what was going on, but if he had to guess, because Minato had designed the seal to incrementally release the fox's chakra into Naruto's system, the fox and Naruto were in a constant struggle for control, even if the brat didn't realize it. Too much chakra seepage, and Naruto was done for. Maybe the Hiraishin exacerbated that conflict.

Jiraiya knew that using the Hiraishin placed a unique strain on the body. Minato had suffered from exhaustion from over-training once, he remembered. At the time, the Hokage seemed like he had aged several years. The stress on his body had put him off the training grounds for a good week, but thankfully, the effects receded after a week. Minato had theorized that extra-dimensional particles from using the Hiraishin had somehow caused deterioration to his body's cells. At the time, Jiraiya had dismissed the theory and assumed that Minato had simply been overworking himself.

Now, though, that theory became much more relevant. Making an educated guess, Jiraiya believed that the stress the Hiraishin (or these particles) imposed on the body either augmented the effect of the chakra seepage or deteriorated the safeguards in the seal to the point where the fox could exploit the weakness. Either case, it was an unpleasant ultimatum for Jiraiya.

On the one hand, he was definitely looking forward to teaching Naruto the Hiraishin. However, he also wanted to train Naruto to control the fox's chakra. He would have to choose one or the other.

Using the Hiraishin would involve writing a more permanent suppressing seal over the Eight Trigrams Seal. That would effectively prevent the fox's chakra from seeping through and dominating Naruto, but it would effectively cut the brat off from the benefits the fox brought. Naruto's healing would slow dramatically, and his chakra stores could potentially decrease.

On the other hand, Naruto would keep and hone the skills of a Jinchuuriki, but at the lack of the Hiraishin. By the time Naruto could control the fox's power, it could very well be too late to learn the Hiraishin. That may in fact be the best option, as it wouldn't involve a complete turnaround in Naruto's fighting style.

"Tch." Jiraiya cursed this unfortunate situation. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he nearly jumped when Naruto cleared his throat behind him. He turned to his godson. "What's up, brat?"

"Uh, I've been doing some thinking." Naruto paused, as if drawing strength to say what he had to say. "All my life, people have looked down on me because of the fox. Now, when I find out that the fox is holding me back from learning dad's jutsu, I guess I should be really angry, but I'm not."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"The fox has really become a part of me, and it's a little weird, but I don't want to just let that go. It's shaped me, you know?"

Jiraiya nodded. He had lived long enough to know the feeling.

"But this is dad's signature jutsu we're talking about. I feel like that I _have_ to learn it, no matter the cost, you know?" Naruto was babbling now. "Even if I have to give up what the fox has given me, I want to learn the Hiraishin. It's one of the only things I have from him."

"What about the fox?" Jiraiya asked carefully. He didn't want to be tactless here. Naruto was still a kid.

Naruto nearly flinched. "Well, dad kinda gave him to me too… I guess… But I feel a connection to dad when I think about using his jutsu. With the fox, I'm barely in control of myself. It's just bad memories, really. I'm ready to move on. What happened to me because of the fox was in the past. I want something else to remember dad by, do you know what I mean?" Naruto asked almost desperately. His words were coming out in a confused jumble.

Jiraiya was silent for a long while. He had predicted that Naruto would want to learn the Hiraishin. He was still thinking about the potential issues. "You do realize that you'll have to adapt your fighting style to the Hiraishin, right? That'll take up a lot of time that we don't have."

"I'll work even harder!" Naruto said fervently, grasping at the hope Jiraiya was putting forth.

"You won't have access to the fox anymore. That means the healing and the chakra."

"That's okay! I'll work to compensate!" Naruto replied. "I want to do this on my own power anyways. The fox's power is borrowed." Naruto suddenly thought about Sasuke's pursuit of power and the blackness it had brought in his heart. He had accepted power from Orochimaru and it had twisted him into something unrecognizable.

"I want– no, I _need_ to do this on my own terms," Naruto said fervently.

Jiraiya was impressed by the strength of ambition and determination burning in Naruto's eyes. "Hmm…"

"What does 'Hmm' mean?" Naruto asked anxiously.

"I think that… you've convinced me, brat." Jiraiya grinned at Naruto.

Naruto grinned in reply. "Awesome! Thanks ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya chuckled as he was wrapped in Naruto's hug. "You're going to have to work extra hard to make up for lost time, you got that?" Jiraiya said sternly.

"You got it!" Naruto said, stepping back, already jumpy with excitement.

"Besides, it might actually compliment the skills I wanted to pass on to you. My skills as a spy master."

Normally, Naruto would have scoffed at Jiraiya's self-proclamation, but he was too happy right now.

"Oh, and when I seal the fox even further, it might be painful…" Jiraiya said, walking back to camp. "Extremely," He muttered under his breath.

"Wait, painful?" Naruto asked, his reverie interrupted. "How painful?"

"…"

"Ero-sennin! How painful?!" Naruto shouted, racing to catch up with the old sage.

**1 Year ago:**

Looking back at the two years he had spent with ero-sennin, especially the last year when training had shifted to high gear, Naruto had to admit that he accomplished a lot. He could finally perform the Hiraishin, even if the teleportation itself was still too disorienting and sluggish to be used in combat.

Naruto was still mastering the bridging of his chakra to the seals, and the slipping in and out of the dimensions, but the potential of the Hiraishin was absolutely staggering. The only issue was that it took so friggin' long to master!

There were three parts to the Hiraishin. The first was the seal and the formation of the bridge with the seal. The user had to connect with the very faint chakra signature found in each seal. The first step required huge amounts of focus and familiarity with one's seals. The second step involved slipping between dimensions and the actual teleportation. This step was basically similar to muscle memory, and building speed – the most boring part, in other words.

The training was just as boring as Jiraiya had thought it would be, but during that training, Naruto felt closer to his father than he had ever felt before. He had asked ero-sennin so many questions about his parents, and there were so many awesome stories. Naruto even began to look forward to the training not for the work, but for the stories.

Naruto thought about the fox, whose presence he was only vaguely aware of now. Even after the more extensive sealing, which felt worse than being dumped in lava, his chakra stores hadn't suffered too much. But they weren't quite as inexhaustible as they used to be. To compensate, Naruto knew that he would have to be much more careful about his chakra use, and practiced his chakra control. He even invested more time into elemental manipulation and timing and tactics with his shadow clones. He couldn't afford to mob the battle field with clones now.

The final part involved the honing of reflexes to the point that reactions were practically instantaneous. After all, speed was the key to the success of the Hiraishin. Naruto had trained extensively to build up his speed and reflexes, and both he and Jiraiya were pleased to say that Naruto could probably match, and occasionally beat his mentor in a contest of speed.

While training for the Hiraishin, Naruto's reflexes had been honed to a razor sharp point, fast as thought, able to react nearly instantaneously to outside stimuli. It had immensely helped the blonde's taijutsu training.

At the time, the training had been grueling, repetitive, boring, painful, and very hated. Now, though, Naruto was ready to admit that it was all worth it.

"I'm so awesome!" Naruto yelled out randomly, causing some birds to squawk in displeasure as they flew away, almost glaring at the boy.

"You? Awesome? Don't make me laugh, kid!" Jiraiya called from the campsite, interrupting Naruto's self-praise, "It's time to head into town and practice what I taught you about seeing without being seen. Let's go."

_Another thing I learned in two years_, Naruto thought as he walked back to camp, grinning. One of the things that Jiraiya hadn't been able to beat out of him though, was his motor mouth.

"Oh, by the way, after two months, whether the Hiraishin is mastered or not, we're moving on to senjutsu almost exclusively," Jiraiya mentioned to Naruto, who nodded in acknowledgement.

Naruto didn't know whether to smile or frown. Training with Jiraiya was considerably more intense than he had ever imagined. He wondered what sage training was going to be like. Originally, he thought that he would be going from town to town, dragged into the red-light districts, watching ero-sennin make a fool of himself. Well, there were days when that was the norm, Naruto thought with a scoff, but most days involved incredibly tough training.

"Oh, and just so you know, we're also going to pick up new clothes for you."

"New clothes?!" Naruto asked indignantly, glancing at his outfit. "What's wrong with the ones I'm wearing right now?"

"Aside from the wear and tear and the fact that you've most definitely outgrown it?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrow.

Naruto looked at himself again. His pants were now well above his ankles and his jacket had become so tight that he had to start keeping it unzipped and sleeves rolled up.

"Alright, so it's a little small, but I can still wear it!" Naruto exclaimed.

Jiraiya only shook his head at his student's lack of fashion sense. "Brat, dressed like this, you're like a neon sign, asking people to look at you. I mean, sure, it adds extra challenge to the stealth skills you'll be practicing today, but if the clothes you're wearing are comfortable, then your training will go much better and faster," Jiraiya said, trying to appeal to the workaholic in Naruto.

The blonde ruminated over this for a while before finally coming to a decision. "You're right, ero-sennin. Without the proper clothes, I won't be able to train well. Let's get new clothes!"

"Heh, you're probably going to get another outfit just like that, but bigger, right?"

Naruto turned back owlishly. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Oh Naruto, you're still so young," Jiraiya said chuckling. "I would recommend getting out of the jumpsuit and getting a pair of shorts and some t-shirts. Not only are they more comfortable, but you can still get them in orange."

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the old sage. "You're not trying to trick me, are you? 'Cause shorts and t-shirts don't have nearly as much pockets."

Jiraiya could have face palmed. "Just trust me, you want either shorts or slacks and a simple t-shirt. Maybe even some bandages. Just keep it simple. You' ll have mobility, and the ladies'll dig it."

"I knew it, it's always girls with you, ero-sennin!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger. "There are other things in life worth living for! Like ramen!"

This time Jiraiya really did face palm. "You know what, never mind. You're hopeless." Even after two years, the little brat hadn't caved.

The two made their way into town silently until Jiraiya signaled a stop. "Okay, before we get some clothes, I want you to exercise some of your stealth skills, got it?" Naruto nodded before his eyes were drawn to the display pane of a comic book shop.

"Remember Naruto, whenever you're trying to gather information, you can't let others know that you are gathering info," Jiraiya said sagely, closing his eyes and nodding his head as if to infuse his words with further sagely wisdom. Then he opened his eyes to see Naruto's back. The brat was looking at that comic book shop. He wasn't even looking at a girl!

Unforgivable!

"Hey brat!" Jiraiya suddenly yelled, forcing Naruto to crane his head in the teacher's direction. "Were you even paying attention to my instructions?!"

Naruto smirked. "Don't let others know you're listening?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched briefly. "I don't mean when _I'm_ talking, you ungrateful, disrespectful brat!" Jiraiya then thumped Naruto soundly on the head.

"Ow!" Naruto cried, rubbing the lump that was already growing. "Why'd you do that, ero-sennin?! I was just practicing what you said!"

"I said when you're gathering information, not when your great and wise teacher is trying to impart some words of wisdom to you!" Jiraiya yelled at his pupil. Sometimes the boy was very dense.

Naruto looked sheepish, then suddenly got wide eyed as a lightbulb dinged on in his head. "Wait… I get it now, ero-sennin!"

"Get what?" Jiraiya grumbled. "And for the last time, don't call me ero-sennin!"

"That's how you gather information!" Naruto cried, as if it all suddenly made sense.

"What?" Jiraiya was confused.

"You gather information when you peep on women! That's what you do when you do your so-called 'research'," Naruto exclaimed. "You're such a big pervert because it's your job!"

Jiraiya's mouth dropped open. Then suddenly it snapped shut as he thought of how easy it would be to convert Naruto, now that he had him in his grasps. After two years of attempting to turn Naruto to the ways of the pervert, he had finally made some headway! If only Minato had been this naïve.

"Yes, of course, Naruto," Jiraiya said silkily. "If that's what you think. Let's head over to the hot springs and I'll show you my greatest techniques right now." Jiraiya moved to throw an arm around Naruto's shoulders, but was surprised when Naruto suddenly scooted away and pointed his finger accusingly at his sensei.

"You're _still_ trying to make me a pervert!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. "Do you think I'm stupid, or what?! You old geezer! Do you really think that _I'd_ think that you gather _real_ information when you're peeping?! The only information you'd gather is for that crappy smut you write!"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. So the kid was just trying to pull one over him. Then, he leaned towards Naruto angrily, his eyes burning with fire. "You little brat! You know nothing about my honorable line of work! The trials I face! The tribulations I must overcome!"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, brushing off Jiraiya's comments. "You're still just an old pervert."

"Alright brat! You asked… for… it…" Jiraiya trailed off as his eyes trailed toward an apparition of beauty walking by.

"Wha-" Naruto's jaw suddenly hit the floor as he saw her. "Whoa! She's prettier than Sakura!" Then Naruto blanched as he realized the last time he had said that had been about Haku. Eck!

"Alright brat, lesson number one about information gathering. Look where you're not looking," Jiraiya began, his eyes still intently peeled on the clingy dress the woman was wearing.

Naruto glanced hesitatingly at his sensei, half of him wanting to beat the crap out of Jiraiya, the other suddenly really wanting to hear what he had to say. In the end, after two years of stalwart defense, hormones won in the end. It was an easy decision for Naruto. Thus began Naruto Uzumaki's rapid descent into the ways of the pervert.

Jiraiya was almost gleeful as he saw Naruto begin furtively looking around at the women on the street with new eyes. Who knew that the turnabout could happen so easily. He wasn't peeping (yet), but Naruto's eyes had definitely been opened.

"Willing to listen to me about my fashion advice now, brat?"

"Oh, shut up ero-sennin," Naruto said, pushing his mentor away before turning his attention back to the curves… in the road that is.

**6 months ago:**

"Naruto, you are definitely full of surprises," Jiraiya said as they traveled to their next destination. "Four months ago, you were still struggling with the Hiraishin, and you could barely touch natural chakra without turning into a frog."

Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, trying to find a hint of sarcasm, before carefully replying, "Yeah, so?"

"So?" Jiraiya parroted, "Look at yourself now. You've somehow completely mastered senjutsu in the four months we spent at Mt. Myoboku. Not only did you learn it faster than me, but you even mastered it even more totally than me. You've even improved on the Hiraishin little by little." Jiraiya was still amazed that Naruto had been able to accomplish such difficult tasks so quickly.

"Well thanks, ero-sennin. But you definitely helped a lot… for a change. You're usually at the bars trying to pick up a lady," Naruto snickered. His lack of boasting said much of the young man's new humility.

Jiraiya scowled good-naturedly. "Well, you can forget the 'you're welcome' I was about to give you, brat!"

Naruto grinned cheekily in reply.

"It's too bad you couldn't practice bonding with Ma and Pa," Jiraiya said, turning back to the road.

"I guess. But hopefully I'll be find even without bonding with Gramps and Gram. I mean, we did figure out that shadow clone trick, remember?"

Jiraiya did remember. He had always known that shadow clones transferred their memories back to the original upon release, but sage chakra could also be transferred. Perhaps it was that unique training trait that had allowed Naruto to accelerate so quickly.

"Yes, well, it hasn't been battle-tested yet, so hopefully it'll still be just as good in the field."

"Yeah. But still, admit it. You're impressed that I've mastered sage mode even further than you," Naruto said, a slight chuckle seeping into his voice.

"Impressed? Perhaps. The same way I'm impressed when a dog learns a new trick," Jiraiya responded dryly.

Naruto just laughed. "You're going to be working so hard to catch up with me."

Jiraiya just smiled and shook his head. It was true.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, Naruto walking side by side with his mentor, godfather, and friend. "So what now, ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya thought about it for a moment. "Well, first, you need to continue practicing the Hiraishin. You're times for the bridge are getting faster, but they need to get even faster. Also, the faster you're able to recover from the disorientation, the more lethal the jutsu becomes. Secondly, we'll need to practice those stealth, blending, and observation skills I taught you. They need to become instinctual for you, got it?" Naruto nodded.

"Good. As we're doing that, I want to set you up with your own information network, somewhat independent from mine."

"Wait, why can't I use yours?" Naruto asked.

"Well, just in case we get separated on different high-risk missions, we each have secure channels that we each trust. On top of that, this protects the integrity of the network. The less people drawing information from the network, generally the more secure it is. If you start using my contacts, suspicions can arise more easily. The name of the game is discretion and efficiency."

Naruto just raised his eyebrow and nodded, an indication that he only partially understood.

Jiraiya sighed. "You have to be immersed in the business for a while before you truly understand. Then you'll see what I mean."

**1 week ago:**

The past six months, the name of the game had been 'application'. Everything Naruto and Jiraiya did was designed to help Naruto apply his skills to the real world. The results had been well worth the added risk and danger. If he had to wager on Naruto against any jonin in Konoha, he'd bet on Naruto all the way. Even against Kakashi.

Naruto and Jiraiya were strolling down the path toward Konoha. In about an hour, they should be able to see the village. Naruto's excitement was overflowing and contagious, as Jiraiya couldn't help but grin at the sight of his student's jumpiness. And the new outfit too.

Black slacks, a kunai holster on each leg, and a dark-gray shirt with the Uzumaki crest emblazoned on the back. Of course, it wouldn't be Naruto without orange, which was found in the blonde's black-orange jacket, which he had taken off in the nice weather. Still though, the boy had filled out well as a young man, and even with the throwback jacket reminiscent of his jumpsuit, the kid still looked competent, but not particularly conspicuous. Perfect.

"Relax kid. What? You have a girl you're dying to see or something?"

Naruto suddenly thought about the girls he knew. Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, even Ayame… Hmmm… He would love to see how they filled their curves in the three years he was gone.

"Ooh, there is, isn't there?" Jiraiya asked, giggling. "You have that look in your eye!"

Naruto glared suddenly, knowing full well who had originally introduced such a look into his eyes. Not that he could honestly say he minded.

"I don't have a girlfriend, but I'd love to see how some of the girls I know filled out."

"Oh, I see. Well, the only reason you might have trouble checking them out is that they'll be clinging all over you." Jiraiya giggled at the thought. "Especially with my training."

"Training?" Naruto asked, demonstrating his foxy grin, accentuating the whiskers in his cheeks.

Jiraiya chuckled. He after all did teach Naruto how to convert the 'cute' behind the grin into 'charming.' Sexy even, if he were to take into account certain women's reactions. The girls loved it. "Oh yeah. Just remember what I taught you."

"What you taught me? Who are you kidding? I've definitely gotten this far with my own charm and skill. You just started me on the path," Naruto retorted.

"Hmph! So now you have some success and you're willing to toss me aside, brat?" Jiraiya asked, mocking hurt feelings.

"Only so long as it helps me pick somebody up. Oh wait, that's all the time now," Naruto jokingly replied.

The two shared a laugh. Both knew that Naruto was the furthest thing from a player, but it was funny to act like it sometimes. Suddenly, Jiraiya grew serious. "Listen, Naruto."

Naruto wasn't used to Jiraiya using his real name, so knew the sage was being serious.

"When we get to Konoha, remember that you shouldn't tell anybody about your heritage or your extra skills. Not until Tsunade and I have worked out a way to let everybody know."

"Yeah, I remember," Naruto replied, not sullenly. He knew the dangers in people finding out who he was.

"Remember, that means stuff like Flashing or going natural…" Jiraiya said with just a hint of amusement at Naruto's halfhearted scowl. "You know, going sage."

Naruto sniffed at Jiraiya's teasing of the nicknames he had come up with for the major skills he had learned. "Why is it that everything you say comes out pervy, ero-sennin?"

"Heh. You're the one with the dirty mind," Jiraiya responded jokingly.

"You can't seriously be accusing _me_ of having a dirty mind," Naruto deadpanned.

"Anyways, remember, discretion is key here, okay?"

"Right, old man. I've got it. Let's just get back home quick so you can go all pervy on Tsunade again."

"Oh, you can bet that I'm looking forward to seeing Tsunade again," Jiraiya said. "Alright. We'll give our report about an hour after we arrive, give her time to get ready. During that time, feel free to catch up with your friends."

"Thanks, ero-sennin," Naruto replied, his excitement returning in a rush.

Jiraiya just smiled at his godson.

IIIIIIIII

"Konoha! I'm back!" Naruto whooped out atop a street light, much to Jiraiya's amusement. The young blonde reveled in the sights of the village, the sounds of the crowds, the smells of the food. He was finally home after three long years.

"Naruto! Is that you?" A voice broke into his thoughts.

Recognizing the voice, Naruto dropped down and gave a big grin to Sakura Haruno.

"Sakura! It's great to see you!" Naruto said, grinning and automatically moving in for a hug.

Sakura, caught off guard by Naruto's sudden return, his height, and his new look, became flustered as her old teammate hugged her.

"Uh… Hi, Naruto– It's, er, nice to see you," Sakura said, blushing shyly, returning the hug quickly.

Naruto pulled back with his grin, still playing the oblivious card. Like any other guy, he was definitely emboldened by Sakura's reaction. "It's great to see you too! How've you been?"

"Fine, thanks." Sakura seemed dazed almost. "Wow Naruto. It's been so long. You've changed a lot," She said appraisingly.

Naruto blinked, already seeing where this was going. "Heh, thanks Sakura. You've definitely changed a lot too," Naruto said, taking a step back. "The short hair's nice too," He said, eyes unobtrusively scanning up and down. Sakura was still flat, but the curves were there, kind of.

Naruto was suddenly on guard as Sakura's mood took a 180 turn.

"Are you checking me out?!" Sakura cried, her blush replaced by anger.

Naruto sweatdropped. Sakura was bipolar: Suspicion confirmed. "And if I was…" Naruto tentatively offered.

The wind suddenly dropped from Sakura's sails as she wasn't expecting Naruto's confident candor. "Uh… Well, nothing. I mean… Never mind," She finally said, a blush returning to her face.

Naruto grinned in reply. Okay… Weird.

"Oi! Nii-san!"

Naruto turned excitedly to the voice. "Hey! Is that you Konohamaru?!"

The only reply Naruto received was, "**Sexy Jutsu, Deluxe Style!"** A poof of smoke and not one, but two beauties appeared, naked, pressing up against each other.

Naruto looked on cooly, noticing that Jiraiya had surreptitiously leaned forward, a perverse grin on his face. On the other hand, Sakura looked like a vein would pop, her eyes flashing with white anger.

As the two women disappeared in a cloud of smoke, a grinning Konohamaru appeared, grinning excitedly at Naruto. "So? So? What'd you think?! The Sexy Jutsu _and_ Shadow Clones!"

SLAP!

Konohamaru pitched forward and clutched the back of his head tenderly. "Ow! What was that for, Moegi-chan?"

"I can't believe _that's_ what you've been working on all week," Replied Moegi, glaring disdainfully at her teammate. Udon just shook his head. Typical.

Naruto looked toward Sakura, who looked somewhat mollified by the slap Konohamaru received.

"Hey, Konohamaru!" Naruto began, walking toward his protégé. "You should really stop using that technique."

Everybody on the scene stared at Naruto in horror. Jiraiya looked at Naruto incredulously. Was he relapsing?

Konohamaru couldn't believe that The Boss had just advised him to shelve the Sexy Jutsu.

_What have you done with the real Naruto?!_ Sakura exclaimed in her head. _Not that I'm complaining. I do like the new confidence and maturity. It's charming actually._

"First of all, that doesn't work on me, so you should stop trying. Second, your proportions are all off. You need more on top, a little more leg, and more accentuation on the curves."

Understanding was slowly dawning on those present.

"Lastly," Naruto began, taking a deep breath. "The Sexy Jutsu is so outdated! I've gotta show you my new and improved 2.0 version! Now _that's_ what you need to learn!" He pronounced passionately, the fire in his eyes igniting one in Konohamaru's. Sakura and Moegi face-faulted and Jiraiya guffawed silently. He should've known.

_So much for mature,_ Sakura growled. She'd teach Naruto. Picking herself up, she cracked her knuckles as she stomped over to her former teammate, soon to be late teammate.

IIIIIIII

Jiraiya looked over at Naruto again, a laugh forming on his lips.

"Don't even–" Naruto warned, nursing the lump on his forehead. Sakura had gotten significantly stronger. His head and the crater in the road was a testament to that. He wouldn't be making that mistake again.

"I told you to be careful, kid. You can never tell with women. Some have super strength, others don't," Jiraiya said, thinking of Tsunade.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just surprised that Sakura made chunin. Good for her. Except…"

"Everybody's probably been promoted, and you're still a genin," Jiraiya finished for Naruto with a teasing grin.

"Heh, that would only bother me if I were still at genin level. And I'm definitely not," Naruto retorted.

"Well, you were definitely noticing that Sakura had – how should I put it – become a chunin," Jiraiya joked.

"I guess," Naruto said, digging in his memory. "She's got nice legs. They attach nicely to her backside too. She's still pretty flat-chested, though." Naruto suddenly wondered when he and ero-sennin had made talking about girls a regular part of their conversations. He could definitely see how, to an outsider, it could have been considered creepy. Extremely, actually. But that was the beauty of his relationship with Jiraiya.

"Speaking of old friends, there go some more right now," Jiraiya said, subtly pointing out a group of three walking towards them. "I've got some stuff to take care of. I'll catch you later. I'm sure you'll handle yourself more… carefully than before, right?"

Naruto just huffed in his mentor's direction, eliciting a laugh. Jiraiya, still laughing veered off the main road, heading towards the center of town – away from the hot springs, Naruto noted with intrigue.

"Naruto! Is that you?" A bored voice called out. "We heard that you were back."

Naruto turned to Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, giving them a big grin. "Why does everybody ask that? I don't look that different, do I?"

"Well, you're definitely taller, and much more noticeable. It seems training's done good things for you, especially your fashion sense." Choji remarked, hands surprisingly free of a snack.

"Thanks, I think," Naruto replied. "Except for Shikamaru, it seems you all changed styles too!" Naruto noted. Shikamaru raised his eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Especially you, Ino," Naruto continued. "I'm… definitely liking it." Naruto gave the platinum blonde a quick once over before grinning brightly.

Unlike Sakura, Ino scoffed at the attention. "Typical. Of course that's the first thing you would recognize."

"Well, of course. Your outfit really compliments your eyes. It also matches you well too. Regal and elegant and of course very pretty. Of course I'd notice," Naruto said smoothly, the practiced words gliding from his lips. Now was not the time to get a pounding for being 'perverted'.

Ino blushed. Who was this guy again? Shikamaru and Choji shot each other a half amused, half very bewildered look. This was Naruto?

"Well, I've gotta catch up with ero-sennin, so I'll see you guys later!" Naruto said cheerily, waving as he followed Jiraiya's path.

"Sure thing, Naruto. We've got a mission ourselves," Choji spoke for the team, who were all staring at Naruto's retreating figure, each for a different reason.

IIIIIII

As Naruto headed to the Hokage tower, he ran into Shino waiting beneath a tree. "Hey, is that you Shino?" Naruto called. He vaguely remembered Shino and the guy in front of him was just mysterious enough to be Shino.

"Naruto. It is good to see you after so long. I am pleased that you also remember me," Replied Shino's monotone voice.

Naruto grinned in relief. He would have hated to have Shino mad at him for being forgetful. "Of course! How've you been doing?"

"Same as usual. I am undergoing a mission with my team, so I am waiting."

"You're on a mission too, huh? Everybody seems to be going on a mission today. Guess I'll just have to jump back in the swing of things soon, eh?"

Before Shino could reply, something large and heavy landed behind Naruto, causing the blonde to whirl around, coming face to face with a huge white dog.

Naruto looked up at the rider. "Kiba?!" Then he looked again at the dog. "Akamaru?! What the–?!"

"Naruto, nice to see you!" Kiba called as he jumped to the ground. "It's been so long! Guess you've got some wicked new skills now, huh?"

Naruto shrugged noncommittally and grinned, remembering ero-sennin's words. "You could say that. But look at you an Akamaru! I remember when it was him riding on _your_ head!" Naruto exclaimed, skillfully diverting the conversation. Shino stared at Naruto behind his glasses with intrigue. Naruto had learned much more than he let on in those three years. Restraint being one of those. Interesting.

As he chatted away with Kiba, Naruto sensed another pair of eyes on him. Looking up the road, he just caught a quick movement around the corner. He could guess who it was. Stalling his conversation with Kiba, Naruto flickered away, leaving behind a confused Shino and Kiba.

Hinata peeked around the corner again, incredibly nervous to find out that Naruto had returned. But Naruto wasn't there anymore!

"Looking for Naruto, Hinata?" A voice chimed up besides her.

"Yes," Hinata replied absently. "He was right…" Suddenly she whirled around coming face to face with Naruto.

"Over there?" Naruto asked, grinning. "It's nice to see you too, Hinata."

Hinata suddenly grew very red and pressed herself against the fence.

"Um, Naruto-kun… It's nice to see you too," Hinata stammered out.

Naruto almost frowned. Hinata was definitely way into him. He didn't know whether to be flattered or worried. Before he could do anything more than speculate, Kiba appeared around the corner.

"Hinata! There you are! Come on, Kurenai-sensei told us not to be late! Let's go!" He said, gently dragging the Hyuuga heiress with him.

Hinata looked back once at Naruto, who grinned encouragingly.

"See you later Kiba, Hinata, Shino," Naruto said cheerily.

Hinata waved shyly and Shino inclined his head. Kiba on the other hand turned and shot Naruto a look. Naruto was familiar with the look. It said _watch it._ Naruto only winked at Kiba, causing the Inuzuka's glare to increase.

Naruto laughed as he made his way to the Hokage Tower. Everything was perfect. He was among friends and he was home. Finally. All was right with the world, and good things were going to start happening soon, Naruto just knew it.

**Six days ago:**

Naruto was feeling very chipper. Sure it seemed like everybody he knew was being sent on some sort of mission. Iruka was delivering school supplies to another village. Sakura, Kakashi, Neji, Tenten and Lee were headed off on their own mission. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and Asuma were training at some temple, or something. Even Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were taking their own mission. He barely had any time to say hi, much less catch up! Heck, even Jiraiya had left yesterday on a secret mission for the council.

Still though, Naruto was home and with friends. That was enough to be happy about the day. Naruto grinned to himself for the umpteenth time that morning. There was something about the sunshine today.

Naruto arrived at the Hokage's Tower and walked in. He talked and laughed briefly with Shizune before heading to Tsunade's office.

When he entered, he grinned broadly at seeing Tsunade-baa-chan. She had asked him to come back today to give a more detailed report as well as to personally evaluate him. It seemed like baa-chan was going over a report with another ANBU.

Tsunade, seeing Naruto, smiled and gestured him to sit down. "Just give me a sec, Naruto." Turning back to the ANBU, Tsunade looked back at the report.

"So what's wrong again?" She asked. The ANBU then handed over the report. As their hands touched, Tsunade suddenly froze.

"Tsunade-sama! What's wrong?!" The ANBU asked, alarmed.

Naruto suddenly was up and next to Tsunade. "What happened? Is she alright?" Naruto nearly shouted, also having witnessed Tsunade suddenly freeze.

"I don't know," the ANBU began, lifting his arm as if to draw Naruto closer. Naruto's warning bells began to clang. He didn't like people he didn't know intruding in his personal space. In hindsight, it couldn't have been avoided.

Seeing the hand, Naruto instinctively flinched away, his arm rising to bat the hand away, but he was unprepared. Cool fingers brushed his forearm, bared by his new t-shirt, and suddenly, the world went dark.

IIIIIIII

Naruto awoke, groggily shaking away the haze over his mind. He recognized this feeling. It was similar to the aftereffects of Ino's Mind Body Transfer jutsu, except a hundred times more soporific. Naruto shook his throbbing head, wondering if this could have been avoided if the Kyuubi hadn't been sealed.

Naruto then realized that he was gripping a kunai. A kunai with blood on it. He looked down in horror to see Tsunade lying in a pool of blood, a savage wound in her side. His kunai was pressed against her throat. Flinching backwards, Naruto threw the weapon away, backing into the wall. Suddenly, the entire place exploded in dust as two ANBU teams burst in.

Before Naruto could react, one of them flickered next to him and viciously struck his head. Naruto fell to the ground hard, his vision already dimming, the blackness lit up only by the stars in the back of his brain.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are hereby under arrest for the attempted murder of the Hokage. You are hereby charged with treasonous beha…" As Naruto faded from this world, one distinct thought was ringing in his head. This was no longer a good day.

**5 Days Ago:**

"**AAAGGH! Stop! Please!**" Naruto cried out as the interrogator passed another current of lightning through him. "I've told you everything! I'm innocent!"

The interrogator only shook his head. "Since it seems like you don't want to tell the truth, it looks like I'll have to go even further."

Naruto's labored breathing grew even more erratic as he struggled against the chains holding him in place, trying to place as much distance as possible between the torturer and himself. All he could see was the evil grin of the interrogator, as if he was enjoying this.

Then the screaming began in earnest.

**2 Days Ago:**

Naruto slumped in his seat hopelessly as he heard the verdict. This wasn't even a trial. Just a group of old men gathering to pronounce his guilt.

The signs of the past two days of torture were visible on Naruto's skin. There so many bruises, that it was surprising that Naruto was even wake, much less walking. But they had it all wrong. He had been controlled somehow. Even after all of that training with Jiraiya.

Naruto remembered how that familiar feeling of grogginess upon waking up. That ANBU was somehow a Yamanaka. An assassin who had somehow transferred control with a touch. He used that to try to assassinate baa-chan.

But that didn't make sense. The Yamanaka were loyal to Konoha. Was it another technique? Naruto didn't know what was scarier. A Yamanaka being the assassin, or that another village had infiltrated Konoha's ANBU and developed a mind control technique. Naruto remembered waking up from the assassin's jutsu. It felt like more potent than anything he had ever experienced before. It was like he had just completely blacked out, but only for a couple of seconds.

So where had the assassin gone? All the evidence was against him, Naruto knew. Without somebody to help him, he was as good as convicted. He was already convicted, actually.

_Dammit, ero-sennin. Why'd you leave so quickly for that mission?_ Naruto thought bitterly as two ANBU picked him up by the arms and dragged him away, the blonde too depleted to keep his eyes open.

_You could have helped. Everything just seems to be against me. Like it's one huge coincidence…_ Naruto's eyes widened as he realized the implications. He was being framed. This was a set-up job. Everything was so damned convenient. All of his friends and character witnesses were somehow absent. There were no witnesses to the attempted assassination, and baa-chan was unable to testify. She was comatose. Poison on the kunai probably. But who could be powerful enough to infiltrate Konoha's ANBU?

Naruto's soul chilled at the implications of his theory. If this were indeed a set-up job, his suspicions growing stronger by the second, then somebody powerful enough to order Jiraiya around was behind this. Somebody in Konoha. Somebody who wanted to become kage.

Naruto thought about struggling again, but realized that it would be futile. He was so weak, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He couldn't summon chakra, and natural chakra in this state was for last resorts. With his chakra sealed, he could easily be overwhelmed and petrified.

In his pain, Naruto groaned at the thought of enduring another day until his execution for a chance to escape. He had to do this. It was his only chance for freedom, for an opportunity to prove his innocence. He had to escape and he needed energy to do it.

**Yesterday:**

Naruto saw the fireball coming for him. Felt its heat. _I'm going to die!_ He forced the panic in his throat down. He couldn't mess up here. _I can't!_ Seven seconds. With great focus, Naruto drew natural chakra toward the chakra suppression seal on his wrists. The heat was blistering. Five seconds.

Four Seconds. Suddenly, Naruto felt the rush of external natural energy rushing in, easily ripping the seals suppressing his internal chakra. As the natural chakra rushed in, Naruto felt his hands becoming webbed. _No! Not like this!_ Two seconds. Naruto shoved the fear aside and desperately tried to balance out the natural chakra with his natural stores. One second. _Please!_

**BOOM**! Protected by the natural chakra, Naruto felt his bonds and even his clothes start to burn as well. No time for relief. Using his strength to break free, Naruto jumped high into the sky and saw chaos gripping Konoha.

IIIIIII

Naruto was tired. He had been fighting for a full day, only the diminishing stores of natural chakra in his body keeping him going. Between the torture and the demanding battles, Naruto was ready to give up. Naruto felt something creeping into his bones. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. Naruto was afraid.

In the dark, Naruto could feel the presence of dozens of shinobi hunting for him. By sheer will, Naruto kept running, trying to stop the shaking in his hands. Hoping to reach Waterfall country before he was caught. He kept his eyes and ears open for ambushes, his senses stretched taut. This was hell. How had things gone to hell so quickly? Dammit.

IIIIIII

He had made it. He was safe. Naruto was so tired, he just wanted to collapse. But then, his training kicked in. He couldn't compromise the safehouse. Slowly following protocol, Naruto guarded his steps, making sure he didn't leave a trail. Then he activated a camouflage seal and made his way to the entrance. Nobody was around. Good.

Naruto then entered the safehouse and nearly collapsed on the ground as he activated another camouflage seal and locked the door behind him. Finally complete, Naruto stumbled to his bed and collapsed. Exhaustion, fear, and relief most of all consuming his being. Sleep embraced Naruto.

**Now:**

Naruto groaned as he woke up from a fitful sleep. The sun was rising again. His dreams had been bombarded by memories. Bad memories. He felt stiff all over. _Where am I?_

Suddenly, it hit him like lightning. The trial. The almost-execution. The hunt. The escape. He had been running all night. He had just arrived at this safehouse at sunrise yesterday. He had been sleeping for a whole day. Glancing around for his hitai-ite, Naruto sighed and closed his eyes sadly when he saw it. The scratch. So he really was Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin.

Naruto's body shuddered and nearly began convulsing as the memories washed over him. Crying to himself, Naruto let the memories pass and let go of the pain and scars on his mind. Eventually, the tears stopped.

Naruto pushed himself back up, propping his back against the cold wall of the cave with a heaving breath. As his breathing slowed, Naruto's eyes became steely hard. Now was not the time for fear.

Revenge. He would have revenge. He would not forget the face of the man who had interrogated him. He would not forget the ANBU who set him up. He would have revenge.

More importantly, Naruto was going to find out who was responsible for this, for hospitalizing baa-chan, for exiling him. He would find them and make them pay.

Naruto slammed his fists against the wall, venting all of his emotions out on the wall behind him. When he was done, there was a spiderweb of cracks lining the cave wall. Naruto looked at the wall and frowned. _I'm beginning to sound like Sasuke_. _I shouldn't walk down that path_, Naruto thought to himself. "I won't walk down that path," Naruto said aloud resolutely, more to assure himself more than anything.

Sighing, the battered youth pulled himself up and painfully washed the effects of sleep away from his face and the signs of battle from his body. The blonde looked terrible, as if he had traveled through a war… and fought in it the whole way too. The whole day's rest, however, had been immensely helpful in the healing process. The aches and pains were dull, the cuts were scabbed over, and the bruises were already disappearing.

Naruto reached for the spare set of clothing he normally kept in his safehouse, but then noticed that he had left a set of ninja armor behind in this hideout.

Naruto remembered his first kill while he was training with ero-sennin. This was the armor that had saved him in that encounter. How ironic that the person this armor had helped him kill was a missing nin. That day on, Naruto knew that killing was a part of his life. He may not like it, but it was the truth. Despite that, he wouldn't kill needlessly. Naruto thought about the psychopaths he and Jiraiya had come across on their journeys. He wasn't ending up like them.

Donning the black slacks and shirt that went with the light gray armor, Naruto looked at himself. Armor covered his forearms, his shins, his shoulders, and his torso. Stretching his limbs, Naruto acclimated himself to his new armament. Feeling for the hidden kunai and shuriken pouches littered throughout the armor, Naruto gave a subdued grin. Those could be useful. Looking himself over once more, Naruto figured that he looked pretty darn cool. His wounds were hidden, and he didn't look very conspicuous either.

Stocking up on supplies, food, and everything he would need, Naruto headed out and glanced back once at the place that had kept him safe throughout the night. Yesterday, or two days ago, now, even half-dead from fatigue and injuries, Naruto had remembered Jiraiya's training. He hadn't compromised the safehouse's location.

Turning his back, Naruto made a quick hand seal before jumping away. The seals in the safehouse kicked in and the boulder that served as the door firmly planted itself into the cliff face, effectively locking the entrance into the safehouse. Even a sensor actively searching would have much difficulty finding the safehouse.

Naruto took a second to look around his surroundings He was in the woods. Peaceful. Silent. He reveled in the silence that surrounded him. Now was not the time for fear, Naruto reminded himself. Now is the time for courage, for fortitude, and for determination.

Holding up his headband, Naruto gazed once more at the scar that ran through the symbol of Konoha. The leaf. Naruto felt a pang in his heart as he thought of Iruka-sensei, the one who taught him the meaning of the symbol. Naruto's breathing further increased as he thought of the other nine rookie genin who had graduated along with him. Naruto thought of Team 7, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura… Sasuke.

Naruto realized that everything he had had while he was in Konoha was now gone. His friends, his home, everything. He had to cut it off. Burying his emotions deep in his heart, Naruto forced his eyes to grow cold. He would not think about Konoha like that anymore. It had turned its back on him, so now, he was going to return the favor. Strapping on his hitai-ite, Naruto knew, though, that he would never truly be able to hate Konoha. He still thought of it as his home, even if it no longer wanted him. His friends were there. People he held dear. People who formed the core of Konoha. People whom he could never abandon.

Then Naruto thought of Jiraiya and Tsunade. A lone tear made its way from his eye down his cheek. Those two had helped him so much, and now, he was leaving them, abandoning them. Baa-chan was almost dead, and ero-sennin – he was who knows where on some secret mission for the Konoha council.

Then it hit him. The council. The council sent Jiraiya on the mission. That meant that whoever was behind this was on or close to the council. That distinctly narrowed down the available options. Unfortunately, those few people would definitely be extremely secretive and difficult to track down.

_Blood, sweat, and tears._ Ero-sennin's voice said in Naruto's head, causing the blonde to sigh. It was time to put all of his training to use. Naruto thought about the day of his homecoming. Everything had been so happy. Perfect even. He had thought that things were only going to get better. Funny sentiment, that. The jinchuuriki had lived long enough to know what to expect from life.

Naruto almost cried again as he thought about that day, only a week ago, but seeming much farther away. He just wanted to return to that fantasy once again. Before reality shattered his life irreparably into millions of pieces.

But he couldn't. He couldn't even go back. Not with this assassination/frame job hanging over his head. Naruto had to find a way to clear his name first. Naruto turned himself toward the general location of Takigakure. If Jiraiya had taught him anything, it was that information was the lifeblood of a ninja.

Naruto forced himself to remain calm. _Banish fear and embrace confidence. You have the skills to be great_, Naruto heard ero-sennin's words ring comfortingly in his mind. _I need a plan_. Naruto thought about Takigakure. He would definitely need to visit the village first to gain his bearings and set up contact with his information network. From there, he could inquire about his friends. Naruto didn't want his civilian friends being caught up in something that they had no part in. He could only hope that Teuchi and Ayame were doing alright.

Making a hand seal, Naruto searched for the seals he had hidden along the way during his escape from Fire Country. He could still feel them connect in a chain of sorts. He knew it was a good idea to leave them behind, just in case he wanted to backtrack. They were too well hidden for anybody to find deliberately.

_Try to account for every possibility_, Naruto heard Jiraiya's teachings come back to him. _Chance sometimes does its best to screw you over._ Naruto chuckled humorlessly. "It sure does."

So it was to Taki first, then… what? After that, Naruto had no idea what he would do. It wasn't like he was striving for Hokage or anything like that anymore. Then Naruto thought again of his friends, and he knew what he had to do.

_After that, I'll prove my innocence. Then… I'll grow stronger. I'll grow stronger to protect my friends, so that none of them have to face what I'm facing._ Naruto realized that he now had a goal.

Training with Jiraiya had definitely changed Naruto. Mostly for the better. Perhaps the introduction to perviness could have been excluded. Despite that, though, Naruto was stronger now. He had learned how to focus his will and emotions.

The blonde smiled as he thought of Jiraiya. "You were like a dad to me, ero-sennin." Naruto paused as he thought about that. "Ok, maybe more like a granddad." Naruto grinned. Ero-sennin would've liked that… maybe.

Then the pain was back as Naruto thought about everything Konoha had come to mean for him. The people who had become his family. Naruto steeled himself against the emotions threatening to burst forth from behind his fragile mask of calm. Only time would dull that pain.

_I am a ninja. I am Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin._

* * *

**A/N:** So in the original, I used plenty of flashbacks, and some readers mentioned that they believed them to be poor story telling methods. So I tried to do something a little more linear. I think it may have actually turned out better, although significantly longer. I tried to show how normal Naruto's life was going until everything just exploded in his face. Almost like a glass ball being slowly raised up, then suddenly dropped. Let me know what you think.

I also tried to give an indication of the type of training I believe Naruto should have undergone with Jiraiya. Also, if some of you are disappointed with the sealing of Kurama, remember that they aren't friends yet, and won't be for a while. But when they are, the seals will be released. But that's coming much later. Besides, Naruto's got the Hiraishin. I think that's fair. One for the other. Review please.


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